Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockleshells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

Rev. Lori Bruno, HPs, Elder, Mother and True
Friend

1940 -

Lori Bruno is a Hereditary High Priestess and Elder of
the Sicilian Strega line of the Craft of the Wise, founder and Head
Mother of Our Lord and Lady of the Trinacrian Rose Church, Inc.,
1992 based in the Commonwealth of Mass in Salem, MA.

When Lori was born in 1940 she was born into one of
the last lines of Oral Traditional teachings in which are handed
down from generation to generation through the family. Lori born
into an line of Ancient Dream Prophets out of Sicily and her family
was known throughout the entire of the Mediterranean region for
their magical and healing abilities. The family resided and is from
the slopes of the ancient volcano Mt. Etna, not far from where the
City of Catania stands today.

Lori is a descendant of Jauhar Al Rumi Elsiculi 969
AD, a General in the Fataniid Empire, was sent by the caliph of
Baghdad to conquer Egypt. This he did and founded the city of Cairo,
Egypt. As the stories were handed down in her family, General Jauhar
became a convert into Islam.

In the fourteenth century after being prophesied by
Lori’s ancestor years prior the Black Death also known as the
Bubonic Plague came upon Sicily and with it brought a great loss of
life, agriculture and more. Lori’s ancestory Donna Marietta {Little
Mari}, was a healer, herb woman, midwife, and Maga Priestess of the
Ancient Sikelian Goddess and because of this she came under heavy
scrutiny from the Inquisition because of her practices. It was
spoken that she could deliver infants and the mother would have a
painless childbirth, which of course was considered a sacrilege
because the Holy Bible stated “women shall give birth in pain.”
Donna Marietta reportedly healed plague victims by using Arabic
medical texts as handed down in her family for many generations.
Donna Marietta also had a magical knife made of fine Damascus steel
(a surgical instrument) that she used to open and drain the pustules
of the plague victims. She was the only one who could cure anyone of
the plague.

Marietta paid for her beliefs with her life, another
senseless murder by the Vatican, she was burned alive and her ashes
taken up into the wind that blew over the Sacred Island of Trinacria
the original name for Sicily which means “three capes”. The winds
swept over the island of Demeter and Persephone, and into infinity.
Marietta’s beliefs survived and were carried down throughout the
generations by her descendants. These are some of the stories Lori’s
father had handed down to her concerning his side of the Family, who
came to a free land, America in 1913 (the same year that Giordano
Bruno was written by Annie Besant). Along with the family came the
“Old Religion” from the Sacred Olive Groves to the land of the
Mighty Oaks.

On Lori’s mother’s side there were people of the Old
Religion as well, they came to America in the 1890’s. Lori’s
maternal Grandmother, Zia Victoria (Aunt Victoria), was a midwife in
the area of New York City, known as “Little Italy”, their family
came to New York from an area of Central Italy known as Naples and
Nola, from this side of the family; they too spoke orally of the
ancestors, the Priests and Priestess of the Old Religion.

In her early twenties, Lori went to work for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She saw
humankind reach for the infinite universes her ancestor Giordano
Bruno spoke about in that bygone age and paid for with his blood.
She saw the Russians name the crater on the far side of the Moon for
him, a crater on the dark side of the Moon. 1178 Jun 18, 5
Canterbury monks reported an explosion on moon (only known
observation). This is the proposed time of origin of lunar crater
Giordano Bruno. (MC, 6/18/02)

Later in the 1970’s Lori met Leo and they formed a
lifelong and infinite friendship, Leo himself a Sicilian Stregone,
High Priest residing in New York City. Leo was a man who fought for
the rights of people and for the Pagan Community and from that
organized and won the right to hold the first Witch-In, in Central
Park, NY on Samhain 1970. This was indeed a great Victory for the
Old Religion as well as for all Pagan’s around the world. Leo became
Lori’s mentor, best-friend and is her true Soul Mate to this day she
honours and remembers him by celebrating his life daily and
reminding all of us, her family what it really means to be a WITCH.
I remember a story another High Priest within the family told me
once, when he had the chance to meet Leo in person. Leo asked him,
so you are learning to be a witch, yes; Leo answered back and said
no, you are remembering who you are. This has always stuck with me
and to this day, I now understand what all the messages, visions and
dreams I had meant. Leo was an Honorary Elder of Our Lord and Lady
of the Trinacrian Rose Church which is a legally recognized
religious body in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which was
founded on the 400th Anniversary of the heresy trial of Giordano
Bruno.

In addition to Our Lord and Lady of the Trinacrian
Rose Church, Lori has also founded Sacred Paths Alliance Network
(SPAN) which was established in 1993 and Protective Organisation of
Witches and Earth Religions (POWER), 1995, for religious freedom.
SPAN is a charitable organization which gives 100 percent of all
monies raised to AIDS related charities, mainly the Children’s AIDS
Program (CAP) House of Boston.

On the 29th day of June, 2000 Leo passed over and
returned home to Sumerland, and from this Leo got his wish, that is
to see Lori write, the first thing she wrote was his biography for
Llewellyn’s 2002 Magical Almanac. Lori is the Sole Heir to Leo’s
works and holds all copyrights on his work both published and
unpublished, recently she with the assistance of others have been
ordering Cease and Desist orders on persons throughout the internet
who were either selling or given away Leo’s work without prior
permissions from this Lori’s has collected all titles and dates to
when they are protected until listed on Leo’s bio page on her
website. Lori wrote; Leo’s light will never be dimmed his light
burns brightly forever within the hearts of his Coven family.
Indeed, in Lori’s home, a light is perpetually for him as well as
for her entire family and elders. The perpetual light is a tradition
that is honoured by Italian Witches to show respect for those who
have gone home to rest in their Sumerland of the Shadows until they
are once again re-incarnated.

In 1996, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis
presented Lori with an award for the “Protection of the Children of
the Commonwealth,” which hangs proudly next to her in Hex Old World
Witchery today. As is tradition over thousands of years the family
Black Stone was handed down to Lori it is known as the “Heart of the
Mother” by the Elder Priestess of her family. Lori feels that the
fact she comes from a family of hereditary lineage does not make her
better than people who are seeker now, she truly feels that new
seekers are Old Souls coming back and remembering their roots. Lori
feels strongly that hereditary practitioners cannot live off of
their ancestors’ accomplishments they must make their own way and
keep the light of the Gods forever bright. Lori maintains that
whether one is Celtic, Germanic, Slovak, Greek, Italian, Sicilian,
Oriental, or from whatever nation you are origin to, that we are all
brothers and sisters, this is how Leo felt as well. She states we
must work together toward Peace and Understanding, for we are
Humanity.

Many years ago Lori was asked about the meaning of
“Witchcraft”, Lori then took the very word WITCH and said the
following; W’ is for Wisdom, I is for Integrity, T is
for Truth, C is for Courage and H is for
Honour. Lori was taught that Priests
and Priestess should respect humanity, all living creatures, and
above all, one’s self as the Goddess and God abide within.

Lori states that the Gods see us “naked” whether
skyclad or robed, and see down to the exposed soul itself. The Gods
are the final judgment, whether one is hereditary, seeker, High
Priest, or High Priestess. They know each person and each Heart.
Lori says that in Ancient Egypt, the only organ left in the mummy
was the Heart, to the Strega, the is all: without that heart fire,
one’s magic is Nothing. These lessons were instilled in Lori from a
very young age and she has lived her life accordingly. Lori has two
children and four grandchildren, a wonderful coven family, any many
dogs. She believes that no matter what difficulty life has placed
before her, her strong beliefs in the Goddess and God have seen her
through it all. She sees the future with more and more people coming
into that strength of freedom with love surrounding all of life on
this planet and the universe, where all religions that respect all
of creation can live in peace together and create peace for
humanity.

Lori is world renowned, loved by many, and respected
throughout her community. To Craft members and non-Crafters, she is
affectionately known as “Strega Nona” or “Grandmother Witch.”
She
has appeared on television, radio and in print throughout the United
States and Canada, lecturing about her Craft so that others may
learn form her, and conducting private psychic consultations. She
has also worked, free of any monetary recompense with families who
have suffered loss of family members missing due to criminal
activity and those loved ones who have passed over to the Other
Side..